Hospital activity (Hospital Episode Statistics - HES)

Have you ever wondered...

  • How many people are treated for alcohol-related conditions?
  • How many people are admitted to hospital after a dog bite?
  • How many people have their tonsils removed each year?
  • What the average waiting time is for hip replacements?

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data has been used by the NHS, government, BBC, newspapers and many other organisations and individuals to answer questions on these topics and more.

What is HES?

HES is a data warehouse that contains information about hospital admissions and outpatient attendances in England. The data in HES comes from the Secondary Uses Service (SUS), which collects data that's passed between healthcare providers and commissioners.

What does HES contain?

HES contains data for three groups (datasets) of patients; admitted patients (including maternity data), outpatients and experimental data on accident and emergency attendances:

  • Admitted patient data is available from 1989-90 onwards
  • Outpatient data is available from 2003-04 onwards
  • Experimental Accident and Emergency data is available from 2007/08 onwards.

HES data is also published on a monthly basis for the latest cumulative in-year position. This monthly data is provisional until the final annual data is published and it is not a National Statistic. The provisional monthly data can be found at the HES online website.

The HES team processes approximately 16 million records for admitted patients and 80 million records for outpatients each financial year.

The HES service also offers access to Payment by Results data going back to April 2009. Further information on Payment by Results data is available at HES Online.

How can I access HES data?

The HESonline website gives you the opportunity to view a range of HES data, either as downloadable tables or in personalised, online tables.

You can also request tailor-made reports or direct access to the HES interrogation system.

The site also offers a range of articles focussing on different aspects of HES data, health conditions and published research.

Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) Training

We offer a 2 day training course to NHS staff and other bodies within the NHS family which allows you to access the record level HES database.

This training focuses on how to use and analyse HES data within Business Objects, which is the software we use to access the database.

The training is intended for Analysts working within the NHS and other bodies within the NHS family who require access to HES. Delegates are expected to have some experience working in an analytical environment, using tools such as excel and extracting data from databases.

Details

The training costs £1,400.

It will be held at:
The NHS Information Centre,
Trevelyan House,
1 Trevelyan Square,
Boar Lane,
Leeds,
LS1 6AE

We must be informed of all cancellations, in writing, prior to the event and substitutions are available at anytime.

Cancellations will be charged at 50% if made between 7 days and 48 hours before the event and in full if made within 48 hours prior to the event.

Register

Citrix

To be able to access HES you need a citrix connection. Citrix is remote access software for delivering applications over a network and the Internet.

You need citrix to be installed on to your PC to enable a HES connection. Please specify whether or not you already have a citrix connection in your place of work in the ‘breakout session' box.

If you are unsure what a citrix connection is please contact enquiries@ic.nhs.uk

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